Furnace charging apparatus



March 13, 1934. s. M. JENKS FURNACE CHARGING APPARATUS Filed April 13, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 13, 1934. s JENKS 1,951,092

FURNACE CHARGING APPARATUS FiledApril 13; 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5TEPHEN Moo/a5 JEN/ 6,

29 vention,

Patented Mar. 13, 1934 EUNETE 1,951,092 FURNACE CHARGING APPARATUS Stephen American Sheet Moore Jenks, Gary, Ind, assignor to and Tin Plate Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application April 13, 1933, Serial No. 666,025

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in furnace charging apparatus, and more particularly to devices used to charge flat material, such as sheets and plates, into a heating furnace, although not limited thereto.

In charging single sheets or plates, or packs of either, into material heating furnaces, considerable difficulty has been encountered in preventing the buckling of such material after it has been placed on the conventional furnace charging apparatus and prior to its entrance through the furnace door. When the sheets or plates, or packs thereof, are not flat, the opening of the furnace door must be increased, which necessitates constant watching and adjustment in order to modify the size of the door opening in accordance with this changing condition, besides which a great loss of heat is occasioned. By the use of the apparatus of the present inthese difficulties are obviated and the material to be heated is leveled and delivered or charged into the furnace in such an efficient manner as not to require attention to furnace door adjustment, heat losses being reduced to a 5 minimum.

.. 50 the sheet material Another object is the provision of novel means associated with the charging door of a heating furnace for leveling and assisting the delivery of sheet material therethrough, together with a flexible drive connection for enabling the function of said means in any normal position of the charging door.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel means for limiting the buckling of before it encounters the leveling and delivery assisting means associated with the furnace charging door.

These and further objects will be apparent after referring to the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a conventional sheet material heating furnace with its associated charging apparatus and the device of the invention.

Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings,

the numeral 2 designates a sheet material heating furnace of well known design. The furnace 2 is provided with a relatively narrow and somewhat elongated opening 3 and a vertically mov- 5? able door 4 which is raised in any suitable manner. A conventional charging apparatus, generally indicated at 5, is provided for slowly feeding the sheet material into and through the furnace. The charging apparatus 5 is operated by a suitable driving means, such as a chain 6, from a source of power (not shown).

As the charging apparatus 5 moves the sheet material along the charging platform '7, buckling or waviness is apt to be encountered, which necessitates raising the furnace door 4, resulting in a loss of heat and furnace pressure with consequent inabiiity to maintain the desired furnace temperature, pressure and atmosphere.

In accordance with the present invention, the charging door sis provided with journals 8 at either end for rotatably supporting a shaft 9 on which a plurality of roils 10, which are preferably corrugated, are mounted with their peripheries extending slightly below the lower edge of the door. A pair of sprockets 12 is secured to the shaft 9 intermediate the various rolls 10.

A pair of journals 14 is mounted on the charging platform 7 for rotatably supporting a shaft 15 which is provided with a pair of sprockets 16 for rotating the sprockets 12 by means of a pair of chains 17, and a third and 18 adjacent one of its ends. A sprocket 19 is suitably journaled adjacent the sprocket 18 and in alinement therewith.

A shaft 20, which is associated with power source referred to, is rotatably mounted below the charging platform '7 and between the paths of travel of chain 6 which drives the furnace charging apparatus 5. A driving gear 21 is secured to the shaft 20 and imparts movement to a chain 22 which is suitably connected with the drive for the furnace charging device 5. A sprocket 23 is secured to the shaft 20 and provided with a chain 24 which is connected to the sprocket 19 in such manner as to engage the sprocket 18.

The various drive connections are such as to drive the chain 1'7 and rolls .0 at peripheral speeds equivalent to the rate of movement of the furnace charging apparatus generally indicated at 5.

In operation, sheet material A is placed on the charging platform '1 and in contact with the furnace charging apparatus 5. As the charging apparatus conveys the material A towards the smaller sprocket 7 furnace door the chain 17 limits its tendency to assist it through the furnace opening 3 while rotating at a peripheral speed equivalent to the rate of movement of the furnace charging appa= ratus.

While I have shown and described one specific embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that I de not Wish to be limited exactly thereto since various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of my invention, as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a furnace charging apparatus, a charging door for said furnace, a secondary charging apparatus mounted on said door and operable by said first named charging apparatus to assist the delivery of material therethrough.

2. In combination with a furnace charging apparatus, a charging door for said furnace, at least one roll journalled on said door and operable by said charging apparatus to assist the delivery of 7 material therethrough.

3. In combination with a furnace charging apparatus, a charging door for said furnace, a shaft journaled on said door, a plurality of corrugated rolls secured to said shaft with their peripheries extending slightly below the lower edge of said door, and means operable by said charging apparatus for rotating said shaft.

4. In combination with a sheet material charging apparatus for heating furnaces, a door through which the material to be heated is fed, a rotatable shaft journaled on said door, an elongated roll mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith and positioned with its periphery extending beyond the edge of said door, a flexible drive connection for enabling the rotation of said shaft while said door is in any of its normal positions, and means associated with said charging apparatus for operating said flexible drive connection.

5. In combination with a sheet material charging apparatus for heating furnaces, a door through which the material to be heated is fed, a rotatable shaft journaled on said door, an elongated roll mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith and positioned with its periphery extending beyond the edge of said door, a flexible drive connection for enabling the rotation of said shaft while said-door is in any of its normal positions, and acting to limit the buckling tendency of the material, and means associated with said charging apparatus for operating said flexible drive connection.

6. In combination with a sheet material charging apparatus for heating furnaces, a door through which the material to be heated is charged, a rotatablesha'ft journaled on said door, a plurality'of rolls mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith and positioned with their periph- 199 eries extending beyond the edge of said door, a flexible drive'connec'tion for'enabling the rotation of said shaft and acting to limit the buckling tendency of the material, said rolls and said flexible drive connection having peripheral speeds equivalent to that of said charging apparatus, and means associated with said charging apparatus for operating said flexible drive connection.

STEPHEN MOORE JENKS. 

